Background: Charles Joseph Winters (called Charlie by his friends) is a balding, 45 year old, 5 foot six inch, fire-plug of a man who weighs about 200 solid pounds and is as strong as an ox. Charlie, a kind hearted, generous man, will always fight for the “underdog”

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Charlie was born in 1921 on the west side of Manhattan, in the rough and tumble area known as “Hell’s Kitchen”. He lived there until 1959 when he and his wife, Eleanor (Ellie) moved from the city out to Northern New Jersey. They had seen an old Victorian house on the edge of the Abadon Forest and fallen in love with it.

Charlie was a very successful distributor of premium deli meats and supplied delicatessens and grocery stores in all the boroughs of New York City with his products. Life was good and life was peaceful, living in the “country”. Then along came the summer of 1966. That is when Bobby and Joey Peach came to spend the summer. Like a moth to a flame, it was their arrival which drew Jacob Lightfoot to their front door. Joey and Jacob were subsequently followed by the Demons of Abadon. They hated the innocence of the children and the purity of their souls.

Charlie agreed to this interview because a lot of strange, inexplicable things have been going on since the boys arrived. Charlie and I have a mutual friend, Father Tim Sullivan, and he asked me (for documentation purposes) if I would interview Charlie. So, l should stop talking and start asking Mr. Winters if he can tell us what is going on.

For clarity Charlie will be C and I will be identified as L:

L : “Well Charlie, thanks for doing this interview. There has been some talk of strange goings on up here in the Abadon. Could you tell me about some of these so called, ‘goings on’?”

C: “Now look, Larry, let’s get something straight.If you’re being sarcastic with me or making fun of this situation you can take a hike right now. I ain’t in the mood. This is not funny and these kids are in danger.”

L: “Oh, hold on Mr. Winters. I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way. I am friends with Father Tim just like you are. That’s why I’m here. I am taking this very serious. Please, I didn’t mean anything negative or condescending. Believe me. I did not mean it like that.”

C: “Well, okay then. It started when Father Tim brought the boys up here a few weeks ago. They said a shadow man, orsomething like that, ran in front of the car and Father had to jam on the brakes to avoid hitting it and the thing ran across the road.”

L: “Sounds scary. Is there anything else?”

C: “Is there anything else? Are you kidding me? That was the very tip of the iceberg. There was this girl named Lily and she was all dressed in white and she brought Jacob here in a thunderstorm and then Bobby seen her upstairs. And then—“

L: “Whoa, Mr. Winters. Please slow down a bit. Who is Lily?”

C: “Oh man, look Larry. This has been going on for a few weeks now. I even had this vicious shadow wolf knock me clear off my porch. I went flying through the air and landed on the gravel driveway. I was all scraped up and bloody.”

L: “Oh my God. That’s unbelievable.”

C: “Tell me about it.I was face to face with this beast as it came at me. Scariest thing ever happened to me—EVER. I was told the force he used was the hatred within him. That was because he could not actually touch me. It was freaky man, very freaky.”

L: “So what is going on now? Has a way to stop this madness been found? What do you do to stop it.?”

C: “What do I DO to stop it? You told me you were friends with Father Tim. What did he tell you? Why did you come here? Why did he send you here? Look, wait right here. I’m getting him out here. This is ridiculous.”

Larry watched Charlie walk into the house. He waited a minute and then said to no-one in particular, “I better leave them alone for a while. After all, I have to figure it out first.”